Ce bocal est difficile à ouvrir, alors Paul me le donne.

Ce is the masculine singular demonstrative determiner used before a noun that begins with a consonant sound.

• ce
  • masculine singular noun beginning with a consonant: ce bocal
• cet
  • masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or silent h
• cette
  • feminine singular noun
• ces
  • plural noun

Since bocal is masculine singular and starts with the consonant sound b, ce bocal is correct.

Ce bocal-là is possible, but it adds emphasis, like that jar rather than simply this/that jar depending on context.

Bocal is a masculine singular noun: le bocal.

Because it is masculine singular, when it is replaced by a direct object pronoun, the pronoun is le.

So:

• Paul donne le bocal → Paul le donne
• If the noun were feminine, you would use la
• If it were plural, you would use les

That is why the sentence has me le donne and not me la donne.

This is a very common French pattern:

subject + être + adjective + à + infinitive

So:

• Ce bocal est difficile à ouvrir
• literally: This jar is difficult to open

The idea is that the subject, ce bocal, is the thing affected by the infinitive ouvrir.

Other common examples:

• Ce livre est facile à lire = This book is easy to read
• Cette porte est impossible à fermer = This door is impossible to close

English uses the same kind of structure, so this is a very natural equivalent.

Certain adjectives in French take à + infinitive in this kind of construction, especially when talking about how easy, hard, pleasant, or possible something is to do.

So French says:

• facile à comprendre
• difficile à ouvrir
• agréable à regarder

Using de here would be wrong.

French does also use de + infinitive after some adjectives, but in different patterns. For example:

• Il est important de partir tôt = It is important to leave early

That is a different structure from Ce bocal est difficile à ouvrir.

The sentence does not explicitly say who is trying to open it. It just describes the jar as being hard to open.

So Ce bocal est difficile à ouvrir means something like:

• This jar is hard to open
• This jar is difficult for someone to open

The person is understood from context, not stated in the grammar of this phrase.

Here, alors means so, therefore, or as a result.

It links the first idea to the consequence:

• Ce bocal est difficile à ouvrir = The jar is hard to open
• alors Paul me le donne = so Paul gives it to me

Depending on context, alors can also mean then, but here it clearly expresses a result.

French object pronouns follow a fixed order when they come before the verb.

In sentences like this, the order is:

me / te / se / nous / vous + le / la / les + verb

So:

• Paul me le donne = Paul gives it to me

Here:

• me = to me → indirect object pronoun
• le = it → direct object pronoun referring to bocal

That order is mandatory in standard French.

More examples:

• Il te la montre = He shows it to you
• Nous vous les donnons = We give them to you

Because French normally uses an indirect object pronoun before the verb when the recipient is not being emphasized.

So instead of saying:

• Paul donne le bocal à moi

French normally says:

• Paul me donne le bocal

And once le bocal is replaced by a pronoun too:

• Paul me le donne

You can use à moi for emphasis or contrast, for example:

• Paul me le donne à moi, pas à toi = Paul gives it to me, not to you

But in a neutral sentence, me is the normal choice.

Because the subject is Paul, which is third person singular, and the verb is donner in the present tense.

Present tense of donner:

• je donne
• tu donnes
• il / elle / on donne
• nous donnons
• vous donnez
• ils / elles donnent

So Paul donne means Paul gives or Paul is giving, depending on context.

Because le already replaces ce bocal.

French avoids repeating the noun when a pronoun can stand in for it.

So instead of:

• Paul me donne ce bocal

you can say:

• Paul me le donne

Once the noun has been replaced by le, you do not repeat bocal again.

Yes. Both are grammatically correct, but they are structured differently.

• Paul me donne le bocal = Paul gives me the jar
• Paul me le donne = Paul gives it to me

The second version uses pronouns to avoid repeating the noun. This is very common in natural French, especially when the object is already known from context.

Yes, ouvrir is an irregular verb, but in this sentence it appears in the infinitive, so you do not see any conjugation change.

The infinitive is simply ouvrir = to open.

If you were to conjugate it, you would get forms like:

• j’ouvre
• tu ouvres
• il ouvre
• nous ouvrons
• vous ouvrez
• ils ouvrent

In difficile à ouvrir, the verb stays in the infinitive because it follows à in this adjective + infinitive structure.

Yes. By itself, ce / cette / ces can often mean either this or that in English, depending on context.

So ce bocal could be translated as:

• this jar
• that jar

If French wants to be more explicit, it can add:

• ce bocal-ci = this jar
• ce bocal-là = that jar

But in many everyday sentences, plain ce bocal is enough.